Chagford

Coordinates: 50°40′22″N 3°50′25″W / 50.6728°N 3.8404°W / 50.6728; -3.8404

Chagford is a small town and civil parish on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, in Devon, England, close to the River Teign. It is located off the A382, about 4 miles (6 km) west of Moretonhampstead. The name Chagford is derived from the word chag, meaning gorse or broom, and the ford suffix indicates its importance as a crossing place on the River Teign. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,470 which decreased at the 2011 census to 1,449.

History

Archaeological remains confirm that a community has existed here for at least 4000 years. In historical times, Chagford grew due to the wool trade and from tin mining in the area, and in 1305 was made a stannary town where tin was traded. Among the most prominent tin-mining families in the 16th century were the Endecotts, Knapmans, Whiddons and Lethbridges. A cattle market in the town survived until the 1980s.

In a Civil War skirmish Sydney Godolphin, the poet and Royalist MP for Helston, was shot and killed in the porch of the Three Crowns.